Casino poker vs Home games (2 Viewers)

[DrStrange]

LAG does not mean the player is a weak player nor that he/she is an ATM. The biggest winner in my circle of home games is a skilled LAG. The weak fish passives are nothing more than tasty snacks. It gets worse the deeper the stacks.

Of course, there are the LAG-tards. Yes, you can make nice profits off of them so long as you can embrace the variance. But your players who are of limited means and essentially "scared money" might not be able to stomach this feast -=- DrStrange

 

[thePokerClub]

I enjoy home games and run a tournament club at home - been doing that for 3 years now and don't feel like stopping any time soon.

That said, you have to throw some live casino cash and tournament playing in there to test whether you are improving or not.

We all enjoy playing with friends for fun, but you may be surprised that you have improved if you give yourself a test here and there.

 

[Coyote]

Best solution would be to find new players, which is the hardest thing anyway, anywhere, 'cause players, unlike chips, card decks, tables and chairs cannot be bought.

If this were not enough, not everybody in Greece is familiar with or interested in poker.
The game equivalent here in popularity is backgammon, and it only requires 2 players, not 6 as a minimum.

 

[phenompoker]

Made live poker my livelihood for about 3 years and truly enjoyed the freedom. I'm now a career, family man and still LOVE the game and following the happenings.

I enjoy the 3 to 4 tournaments time allows me to play per year, even if its only 1 or 2, I love the chance to play and continue to study the game to this day.

 

[Old State]

I’ve been playing home games with many of the same players for 10-25 years. I prefer home game because of the social aspect and I usually host…so I’m don’t drive anywhere.

That said my usual $1-1 $120 home games are WAY tougher than a casino $1-3 $400 game. My home game players are better, know each other, and I’m usually drinking.

When I play at the casino I hardly drink if at all. The players are significantly worse and my win rate is very high. I went many years, not playing in a casino while my kids were very young. I started playing again in Atlantic City and in Boston for work trips. My win rate is over 80%. I average over $80 an hour at $1-3 for the last 4 years. I only average $12 an hour at my home game

So I love casino poker in the sense that I usually win a lot with minimal tough decisions

 

[valleychips]

That win rate is astronomical! I thought 20BB/hr was good...

 

[Old State]

That win rate is astronomical! I thought 20BB/hr was good...

The low limit games at the casinos have totally changed in the last 10 -15 years. Gone are the LAGs and crazy 4 way all in pots.

Its now mostly older retires regulars during the week that all call to see a flop then fold to anything if they don’t catch a piece of it. I play very straight forward. Raise with all good starting hands and reraise premiums. NEVER slow play anything. Make most of your money catching random 2 pairs or better when they let you see the flop cheap and they catch an A or K. Fold to any aggression if you have a weak pair. If they are raising they have it. Reraise all aggression if you have the nuts or close to it. Play your position well

It’s really that simple in low stakes casino games. People who lose at low stakes are either way too loose or call down and try and bluff the fish. If you raised with AK and catch an A on the flop…then someone raises you…you are 100% Losing! You need to fold that in low stakes games. 75% of my profits usually come in 4-5 hands over a 8 hour session. If you play a $1/3 game like you see Brad Owen playing a $10-20 game you will lose most of the time.

For my home game I have to play very different. Even though the stakes are a little lower the skill level and aggression is way higher.

 

[dannyssteez]

For the people who play poker often and aren’t only chip collectors:

I’m curious to know how many people here play poker exclusively at home games with friends. My enjoyment from poker comes from low stake home games I host with friends where we can have a few drinks and play seriously but have fun doing it. I’ll play in a card room / casino once in a while on my own and a session where I’m up money isn’t even that enjoyable for me. Usually sitting with a miserable bunch that seems like they are there everyday trying to make a living. I like poker for the game and competition, and improving is important to me, but could do without the monetary aspect of it if poker could be played seriously without it somehow. I’m just curious to know if most people here are in it for the game and social aspect of it, and avoid going to the casinos, or don’t mind either way.

The most fun I've ever had playing is definitely lower stakes with my friends, but I completely agree there needs to be a balance. The stakes need to be high enough to where everyone is really trying to win and winning feels rewarding, and yet not too devastating financially to lose a couple buy-ins. But nothing quite gets my blood pumping like seeing a big pot

 

[Taghkanic]

The low limit games at the casinos have totally changed in the last 10 -15 years. Gone are the LAGs and crazy 4 way all in pots.

Its now mostly older retires regulars during the week that all call to see a flop then fold to anything if they don’t catch a piece of it. I play very straight forward. Raise with all good starting hands and reraise premiums. NEVER slow play anything. Make most of your money catching random 2 pairs or better when they let you see the flop cheap and they catch an A or K. Fold to any aggression if you have a weak pair. If they are raising they have it. Reraise all aggression if you have the nuts or close to it. Play your position well

It’s really that simple in low stakes casino games. People who lose at low stakes are either way too loose or call down and try and bluff the fish. If you raised with AK and catch an A on the flop…then someone raises you…you are 100% Losing! You need to fold that in low stakes games. 75% of my profits usually come in 4-5 hands over a 8 hour session. If you play a $1/3 game like you see Brad Owen playing a $10-20 game you will lose most of the time.

For my home game I have to play very different. Even though the stakes are a little lower the skill level and aggression is way higher.

As I’ve commented before, this approach and win rate can only be possible if:

(1) Players are coming and going relatively quickly on and off the table, and so aren't noticing your rock strategy; or​

​

(2) Players are staying at your table for 6-8 hours, and just not paying attention; and/or​

​

(3) The casino has a very large player pool, including many tourists/other casuals, and a large number of active tables, so that the 1/3 games there are not full of regs who are aware of your strategy, session after session.​

Great if it works at your preferred casinos... But none of the three casinos within 1-2 hours of me have player pools anything like that. This strategy would not work at all there, let alone in the 1/3, 2/3 and 2/5 private games I play. In those venues, you would not get paid when you have it, because people would know how you play. These require more active and creative tactics to survive, let alone be profitable.

Also... Your games sound intensely boring.

 

[valleychips]

If I were making that much $, I dunno if I'd find it boring. But perhaps after enough hours I'd crave a challenge. Champagne problems.

 

[Old State]

If I were making that much $, I dunno if I'd find it boring. But perhaps after enough hours I'd crave a challenge. Champagne problems.

I agree. Cashing in for $300 and out for $600- 1400 in 4-8 hours never bores me. This guy finds something to critique in whatever I say. He gets off on being a contrarian

There are lots of low stakes videos on YouTube. This guys are pretty straight forward and he mentions, as most do, a lot of the concepts I talked about…because they work

 

[Old State]

As I’ve commented before, this approach and win rate can only be possible if:

(1) Players are coming and going relatively quickly on and off the table, and so aren't noticing your rock strategy; or​

​

(2) Players are staying at your table for 6-8 hours, and just not paying attention; and/or​

​

(3) The casino has a very large player pool, including many tourists/other casuals, and a large number of active tables, so that the 1/3 games there are not full of regs who are aware of your strategy, session after session.​

Great if it works at your preferred casinos... But none of the three casinos within 1-2 hours of me have player pools anything like that. This strategy would not work at all there, let alone in the 1/3, 2/3 and 2/5 private games I play. In those venues, you would not get paid when you have it, because people would know how you play. These require more active and creative tactics to survive, let alone be profitable.

Also... Your games sound intensely boring.

Winning money isn’t boring to me. I play mostly in AC and a few times a year in Boston…their only real card room, the Encore. You sound like a guy that has very very little casino experience…but loves to give advice on playing in casinos. You also must live in the middle of nowhere I guess. I don’t play in bodunk little casinos but even in the large room where I play…like Borgata…there are regulars at every table. Most of them know the dealers and waitresses names. These are the guys I win the most money from. At 1-3 these regulars almost all suck. They are almost never paying attention….even when they are there for hours.

If you can’t beat a casino 1-3 game maybe you are one of the suckers. Or maybe right a book titled “how to beat low stakes poker at casinos in the middle of no where where everyone remembers exactly how you play”. I’m sure you would sell millions of copies

 

[frugal]

Winning money isn’t boring to me. I play mostly in AC and a few times a year in Boston…their only real card room, the Encore. You sound like a guy that has very very little casino experience…but loves to give advice on playing in casinos. You also must live in the middle of nowhere I guess. I don’t play in bodunk little casinos but even in the large room where I play…like Borgata…there are regulars at every table. Most of them know the dealers and waitresses names. These are the guys I win the most money from. At 1-3 these regulars almost all suck. They are almost never paying attention….even when they are there for hours.

If you can’t beat a casino 1-3 game maybe you are one of the suckers. Or maybe right a book titled “how to beat low stakes poker at casinos in the middle of no where where everyone remembers exactly how you play”. I’m sure you would sell millions of copies

I agree. Cashing in for $300 and out for $600- 1400 in 4-8 hours never bores me. This guy finds something to critique in whatever I say. He gets off on being a contrarian

There are lots of low stakes videos on YouTube. This guys are pretty straight forward and he mentions, as most do, a lot of the concepts I talked about…because they work

I don't know any of the parties involved in this discussion, but based on https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/pahwmx2-ako-twice-against-the-same-villain.138045/ and his other threads it's wild to see a comment like "maybe you are one of the suckers" thrown at @Taghkanic. BTW, I'm not saying that because he won some money, I'm saying that because of his approach to the game and his willingness to see his own mistakes. He has the attitude of someone who does things well.

Conversely, and I mean no offense when I say this, when someone responds to a evenhanded criticism with bluster makes it seem like they're full of hot air.

 

[Old State]

I don't know any of the parties involved in this discussion, but based on https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/pahwmx2-ako-twice-against-the-same-villain.138045/ and his other threads it's wild to see a comment like "maybe you are one of the suckers" thrown at @Taghkanic. BTW, I'm not saying that because he won some money, I'm saying that because of his approach to the game and his willingness to see his own mistakes.

Conversely, and I mean no offense when I say this, when someone responds to an evenhanded criticism with bluster makes it seem like they're full of hot air.

You are right. You don’t know the parties or the context and history of his comment. “Evenhanded criticism” is exactly not what that was. Best to not opine if you don’t know the context.

And maybe the guy who needs to critique people while writing dissertations on his poker prowess …while discounting near universally accepted strategy to beat low stakes games …is the one full of hot air.

A topic at one of my recent home games were casino players that go out of their way to drone on with poker speak and strategy at the table….and how they are almost always the worst players there

 

[thePokerClub]

Once things go towards over-strategizing around 'low stakes' I feel like the benefit from the convo is just lost.

If you are at the point that you are obsessing over strategy at ANY stake....move up and evolve.

Just my personal viewpoint. Always be forcing your own learning.

 

[Old State]

Once things go towards over-strategizing around 'low stakes' I feel like the benefit from the convo is just lost.

If you are at the point that you are obsessing over strategy at ANY stake....move up and evolve.

Just my personal viewpoint. Always be forcing your own learning.

My point is that it’s much more simple. People lose money at low stakes trying to over strategize.

 

[Hot Nuts]

I dump sometimes to keep them coming back.

Spoiler: None!

I know what thread my post will end up on.

 

[Taghkanic]

Winning money isn’t boring to me. I play mostly in AC and a few times a year in Boston…their only real card room, the Encore. You sound like a guy that has very very little casino experience…but loves to give advice on playing in casinos.

Oh, thanks for the cheap shot. I’ve played at many casinos. Just this week I final tabled a tournament at a casino. Nice payout on my one buy-in.

You also must live in the middle of nowhere I guess. I don’t play in bodunk little casinos but even in the large room where I play…like Borgata…there are regulars at every table. Most of them know the dealers and waitresses names. These are the guys I win the most money from. At 1-3 these regulars almost all suck. They are almost never paying attention….even when they are there for hours.

Even the worst regs catch on if someone is playing a completely obvious and predictable strategy game after game. So my guess is that either you’re greatly exaggerating your results, or conveniently manage to forget the times you win less or lose (as many low-stakes rocks tend to do).

If you can’t beat a casino 1-3 game maybe you are one of the suckers. Or maybe right a book titled “how to beat low stakes poker at casinos in the middle of no where where everyone remembers exactly how you play”. I’m sure you would sell millions of copies

I both host a 2/5 game, and can beat 2/5 in casions. Have done so at MGM, Rivers, Mohegan, Turning Stone Resorts World, etc. Not sure why I should even have to say that, but thanks again for your shallow and cheap responses.

 

[thePokerClub]

Well folks.......this thread has run it's course.

 

[Taghkanic]

I don't know any of the parties involved in this discussion, but based on https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/pahwmx2-ako-twice-against-the-same-villain.138045/ and his other threads it's wild to see a comment like "maybe you are one of the suckers" thrown at @Taghkanic. BTW, I'm not saying that because he won some money, I'm saying that because of his approach to the game and his willingness to see his own mistakes. He has the attitude of someone who does things well.

Conversely, and I mean no offense when I say this, when someone responds to a evenhanded criticism with bluster makes it seem like they're full of hot air.

Well put.

As far as Old State’s version of boring but winning poker... If he is being truthful (and I can't say for sure that he is), good for him. Poker players are by definition liars, and that goes double for losing players when it comes to their win rates... What he describes sounds like a lot like the retirees I see at 1/2 1/3 in other casinos, who are mostly there just to get out of the house, sit on one buy-in all day, and wait for ultrapremiums. These guys eventually either leave down a little, as the rake exceeds their winnings; or up just a little, on a good day; or eventually run into an AA vs KK cooler and bust.

No one could pay me to sit at 1/2 or 1/3 for eight hours playing only a handful of hands, executing the same ABC strategy over and over again, relying on worse regs to pay me off—even if it was regularly profitable.

I’m just not that interested in being a lab rat in a cage hitting the same button over and over again to get dispensed my daily ration of treats. Doing the same thing repeatedly without any hope or intention of progressing to another level is like letting yourself die slowly.

For many of us, the goals in poker are either to (a) just have fun, (b) maybe win some money, and/or (c)always keep getting better at it.

Fun means some variety, some gamble, and some lively players at the table.

Maybe winning some money means being above average and paying attention.

But getting better and winning much bigger money over the long haul requires being willing to play in tougher games, against people more skilled than you... It requires getting into unfamiliar or even uncomfortable situations, learning how to deal with more than one type of villain, finding ways to slowly evolve your style and improve your understanding of the game, in order to steadily move up in stakes. (My goal for 2026 is to start moving up this year from 2/5 to 5/10, which I’ve played a couple times recently.)

BTW none of that requires or even is helped by talking strategy at the table.

The game I host is different than a lot of other private games in my area not only because it’s unraked, but that I consciously try to attract and keep stronger players. A lot of other hosts view sharp players as a problem to the extent that they scare away the sea creatures. My game has a couple of fish and whales, but unlike many I want to be tested in my game. We have plenty of fun, with regs razzing each other, telling off-color jokes, shooting the shit, etc. But my regs who come back regularly also want and appreciate a challenge. The game began around 2008-9 as a $35 tourney, with less than 1K in the entire pool. Now we have individual players buying in for 1K cash and rebuying if they bust. So those who have stuck around seem to share my goals, FWIW.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

This got boring.


I like home games better because I can choose the music and do not take requests. I disinvited a woman who requested a song, then started loudly singing a different song. Can't have that negativity in my life.

 

[Baxit]

my 2 chips:
- Home games : best for small stakes cash games. If you want to play big, you need a safe and serious security, plus mishap management etc. By popular wisdom: "to lend is to buy a quarrel"
- Casino games (or Cardroom clubs in EU): good for big cash games. For NLHE, you no longer see people thinking they're legit just because they have the money, so prepare to fight and not just to harvest (YMMV). Also, IRL tournies are a waste of time imho due to strong variance and luck factor (e.g. 5 all in coinflips to reach the paid table is 1/32 survival probability).
- Online games : best for MTT and grinding (if you still have hair and neurons). NLHE is very well suited for online MTT : quick games with many players per table, instant shuffle, constant player flow with easy-to-intimidate newbies, possibility to open new tables after a bad beat, etc.

 

[Old State]

Oh, thanks for the cheap shot. I’ve played at many casinos. Just this week I final tabled a tournament at a casino. Nice payout on my one buy-in.



Even the worst regs catch on if someone is playing a completely obvious and predictable strategy game after game. So my guess is that either you’re greatly exaggerating your results, or conveniently manage to forget the times you win less or lose (as many low-stakes rocks tend to do).



I both host a 2/5 game, and can beat 2/5 in casions. Have done so at MGM, Rivers, Mohegan, Turning Stone Resorts World, etc. Not sure why I should even have to say that, but thanks again for your shallow and cheap responses.

Love how you sling mud and are then immediately upset when its gets slung back.

And now you accuse people of lying . I track all my results on Poker Bank Roll. You are an ass that must have an alert for every time I post so you can chime in with something contradictory. This all stems back to when you embarrassed yourself after mocking people for saying the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t actually free slaves….which is didnt. You have a history of inserting yourself as an expert in things outside your actual expertise

Just because the crappy casinos you go to in the middle of no where have the exact same players playing at a couple tables doesn’t mean proven strategy for larger card room in the population centers …where most people live somehow doesn’t work. Within 2 hours of where I live there NUMEROUS large card rooms…not including AC. I have several poker friends that regularly crush the $1-3 and even $2-5 games with the same basic strategy I described….a strategy endorsed by probably 2 dozen YouTube poker pro channels.

I didnt read a thing you posted after to accuse me of exaggerating. You are a buffoon. Please add me to your ignore group

 

[Taghkanic]

Love how you sling mud and are then immediately upset when its gets slung back.

And now you accuse people of lying . I track all my results on Poker Bank Roll. You are an ass that must have an alert for every time I post so you can chime in with something contradictory. This all stems back to when you embarrassed yourself after mocking people for saying the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t actually free slaves….which is didnt. You have a history of inserting yourself as an expert in things outside your actual expertise

Politics belong in the politics section. I could continue to argue your point, but it is not appropriate here. You are losing your self-control in the wrong forum.

Just because the crappy casinos you go to in the middle of no where have the exact same players playing at a couple tables doesn’t mean proven strategy for larger card room in the population centers …where most people live somehow doesn’t work. Within 2 hours of where I live there NUMEROUS large card rooms…not including AC. I have several poker friends that regularly crush the $1-3 and even $2-5 games with the same basic strategy I described….a strategy endorsed by probably 2 dozen YouTube poker pro channels.

I didnt read a thing you posted after to accuse me of exaggerating. You are a buffoon. Please add me to your ignore group

Boo-hoo. I called your strategy boring, because I believe in choosing precise and accurate words. And I do continue to doubt your boasts (which you’ve made before) about an 80BB win rate at 1/3. Could be true, probably not. And no, I have no filter for following your posts, I just happened upon this one. You’re not as important as you may like to think.

But really, if you want to illustrate your genius solution for making reliable money at poker, how about sharing with the group some hand histories? Show us how it’s done. Give us the player profiles for each hand, the action preflop, the stack sizes, the villain profiles, and what moves you made to stack them in the 4-5 hands you profit from over a 6-8 hour session. It would be interesting to see if it stands up to scrutiny... I’m all ears to learn from the master, lol.

Anyway, let’s stick to some of the many unfounded or just odd assertions you make to try to justify your Watching Paint Dry poker strategy.

For example, you seem to think that the size of a casino determines how tough your competition is. However, you only get to play one live table at a time. You can wind up at a table with all ABC regs and OMCs, or you can get 3+ sharp players. Really depends when you show up, and the luck of the draw.

Good players exist everywhere; if anything, they are more diluted at big casinos, which have more tourists and casuals than smaller ones. In a small casino, the chances of finding several of the better players sitting at 2/5 is pretty high, because there is rarely more than one table going, and 5/10 only gets off once in a blue moon.

Meanwhile, at the “crappy” casino closest to me, you will often see one of the greatest players alive, Sean Deeb, in the room. He was Player of the Year in 2025.

I’ve seen Deeb enter a freaking $300 tournament locally—this being a guy with tens of millions in both live and online tournament winnings.

I don’t have any particular love for the guy, but there is no denying that he is an all-time great. So why is he even playing locally, in Schenectady, NY? Deeb grew up quite close to the casino, and still has a home locally; his family owns several popular bakeries in the region. To his credit he comes and plays with the locals at our “rinky-dink” casino whenever he can. And doesn’t hold back—he runs over tables. His cousin is also very good, and there more often than Deeb himself. His wife occasionally sits in as well.

Another guy who often plays 2/5 and all the tourneys at this same casino, considered one of the better ones in the room, was one of the chip leaders in the current WPT $10K tourney at the Wynn in Vegas, last I checked.

One could make an argument that small casinos present more challenges than big ones, precisely because it is harder to avoid the sharks. At places in the Northeast like Mohegan or Foxwoods, there still might only be one world-class player in the room, and s/he is probably playing nosebleed stakes...

 

[Hot Nuts]

This got boring.


I like home games better because I can choose the music and do not take requests. I disinvited a woman who requested a song, then started loudly singing a different song. Can't have that negativity in my life.

Hahaha.

I have a poker playlist on Spotify, but sometimes open it up and let players add songs. They seem to like it.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Hahaha.

I have a poker playlist on Spotify, but sometimes open it up and let players add songs. They seem to like it.

Clearly you are a warm and generous host. I can't trust my apes, the next song queued up would be "Bagpipes-10 Hr version".

SB and BB agreeing to start a conversation right before the action is on them after 4 limpers:

 

[Hot Nuts]

I have bagpipes on my playlist, a 5-minute version called It’s a Long Way to the Top.

 

[Old State]

Politics belong in the politics section. I could continue to argue your point, but it is not appropriate here. You are losing your self-control in the wrong forum.



Boo-hoo. I called your strategy boring, because I believe in choosing precise and accurate words. And I do continue to doubt your boasts (which you’ve made before) about an 80BB win rate at 1/3. Could be true, probably not. And no, I have no filter for following your posts, I just happened upon this one. You’re not as important as you may like to think.

But really, if you want to illustrate your genius solution for making reliable money at poker, how about sharing with the group some hand histories? Show us how it’s done. Give us the player profiles for each hand, the action preflop, the stack sizes, the villain profiles, and what moves you made to stack them in the 4-5 hands you profit from over a 6-8 hour session. It would be interesting to see if it stands up to scrutiny... I’m all ears to learn from the master, lol.

Anyway, let’s stick to some of the many unfounded or just odd assertions you make to try to justify your Watching Paint Dry poker strategy.

For example, you seem to think that the size of a casino determines how tough your competition is. However, you only get to play one live table at a time. You can wind up at a table with all ABC regs and OMCs, or you can get 3+ sharp players. Really depends when you show up, and the luck of the draw.

Good players exist everywhere; if anything, they are more diluted at big casinos, which have more tourists and casuals than smaller ones. In a small casino, the chances of finding several of the better players sitting at 2/5 is pretty high, because there is rarely more than one table going, and 5/10 only gets off once in a blue moon.

Meanwhile, at the “crappy” casino closest to me, you will often see one of the greatest players alive, Sean Deeb, in the room. He was Player of the Year in 2025.

I’ve seen Deeb enter a freaking $300 tournament locally—this being a guy with tens of millions in both live and online tournament winnings.

I don’t have any particular love for the guy, but there is no denying that he is an all-time great. So why is he even playing locally, in Schenectady, NY? Deeb grew up quite close to the casino, and still has a home locally; his family owns several popular bakeries in the region. To his credit he comes and plays with the locals at our “rinky-dink” casino whenever he can. And doesn’t hold back—he runs over tables. His cousin is also very good, and there more often than Deeb himself. His wife occasionally sits in as well.

Another guy who often plays 2/5 and all the tourneys at this same casino, considered one of the better ones in the room, was one of the chip leaders in the current WPT $10K tourney at the Wynn in Vegas, last I checked.

One could make an argument that small casinos present more challenges than big ones, precisely because it is harder to avoid the sharks. At places in the Northeast like Mohegan or Foxwoods, there still might only be one world-class player in the room, and s/he is probably playing nosebleed stakes...

Losing self control?? WTF?? Didn’t read anything else in your dissertation. You are a really weird dude

 

[Coyote]

Ignoring Taghanic has contributed to protecting my nerves.
I guess he can be a nice dude in person, but online he is distinguished for his dogged persistence on his reality-proof doctrines.

 

[Taghkanic]

Losing self control?? WTF?? Didn’t read anything else in your dissertation. You are a really weird dude

So you can’t in fact cite even one hand history to show how your Watching Paint Dry Strategy works. Got it